A certified municipal finance officer is spending time in Jellico to help sort out the books after the resignation of former town recorder Linda Douglas on Dec. 4.

The CMFO, Sondra Denton, is from Englewood in McMinn County. She worked two days last week and two days this week, according to Jellico Mayor Les Stiers.

“She found out there has been no journal entries at all and none of the bookkeeping is up to date,” he said. “Fiscal year 2011 hasn’t been closed out and fiscal year 2012 hasn’t been opened.”

Denton acknowledged she will be closing out the months’ statements and getting reconciliation reports, but declined to comment further.

“Right now it’s just too early. There’s really nothing I can tell you,” she said.

The town is responsible for paying Denton and the team she brings with her, but Stiers did not have an estimate of how much it is costing the town.

Additionally, the mayor says there have been some “discrepancies” with the town’s Fuelman cards.

“Of 38 [cards], we have deleted 18. That was cards being held by people that no longer worked for the city and cards that were assigned to vehicles that the vehicles have been disposed of,” Stiers said.

The town only has 21 employees, and there is no need for each employee to have a fuel card, the mayor said.

“There was about 20 people that had pin numbers that could use a Fuelman card and get fuel,” he said.

The town was spending $3,200 to $3,700 each month on fuel. Destroying the extra Fuelman cards will bring the fuel costs down to $2,000 a month, the mayor estimated.

The board of mayor and aldermen will meet tonight at 6:30 at the municipal building. The board will vote whether or not to accept Douglas’s resignation and the open position can then be advertised.